NASA is sending the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to explore near-Earth asteroid Bennu, a carbon-rich body that may contain clues to the origins of life. When OSIRIS-REx arrives at Bennu in 2018, it will spend over a year orbiting the asteroid and studying it with a suite of remote sensing instruments. The OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer, or OVIRS, will look at Bennu's spectral signature to detect organics and other minerals. After OVIRS and its fellow instruments have thoroughly surveyed Bennu, OSIRIS-REx will descend to the asteroid's surface, collect a sample, and return it to Earth in 2023.
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NASA ID
GSFC_20160725_OVIRS_m12309_OSIRIS_REx
Date Created
July 25, 2016
Center
GSFC
Media Type
video
Photographer
Robert Andreoli, John Caldwell, Michael Lentz, Lisa Poje, Adrianna Manrique Gutierrez, Walt Feimer, Chris Meaney
Location
Goddard Space Flight Center
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